From Nutrition Action, January 17, 2014, comes the news that caffeine might protect the brain against cognitive decline. A person would need to drink 4-5 cups of coffee a day, however, and the results are only preliminary.
Caffeine and the Brain
Can caffeine protect against cognitive decline?
Bonnie Liebman
Caffeine may protect your brain. “In our study of people who already had an increased risk of cognitive decline because of cardiovascular risk factors, consuming about 500 milligrams of caffeine a day was strongly associated with memory preservation,” says Jae Hee Kang, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
“It seems to require high levels of caffeine—four or five cups of coffee a day.” (That’s if it’s Maxwell House or Folgers. At Starbucks, you get 415 mg of caffeine in one venti and 520 mg in two tall coffees.)
The study found no lower risk among people who drank decaf or cola or tea, possibly because they got less caffeine.
Until a trial tests caffeine against a placebo, though, it’s not clear that it protects the brain. Even so, researchers have some reason to expect that caffeine may help.
“In mice that are bred to get Alzheimer’s, caffeine can reduce or reverse the amyloid burden,” says Kang.
Another possibility: “Caffeine seems to be protective for depression, which also increases the risk of dementia.”
Sources: J. Alzheimers Dis. 35: 413, 2013; Arch. Intern. Med. 171: 1571, 2011.